300 State now offering delivery

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, December 10, 2014

ALTON — The pizza at 300 State in Alton is close to a well-kept secret, but that may soon be changing.

Sean Webster, owner of the restaurant at 300 State St., recently implemented a delivery system for the restaurant, one of the few locally owned establishments to offer the service. Drivers began delivering Thursday, and Webster said delivery will run Wednesday through Saturday going forward.

The new development is the result of the pizza place’s popularity growing steadily since its inception two years ago. Webster, an Alton native who has worked in the food and beverage industry for 15 years, started the restaurant in the summer of 2012. Webster describes his pizza as “New York-style gourmet pizza,” saying it would have been a favorite of the fictional pizza-crazed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — given that they were real, of course.

“I would say it’s the pizza the turtles would have eaten if (300 State) was around in the ’90s,” Webster said.

The restaurant does a lot of the classics, but it also ventures into the more creative for its pizza offerings — among the choices are The Bastard, topped with red sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, provel and mozzarella, and the title track 300 State, which includes Alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, spinach, roasted garlic, provel and mozzarella. Webster said the sauce is made in-house daily and the dough, which they get from Alton’s Duke Bakery, is hand-tossed, adding to the restaurant’s allure.

Because of its choice offerings, 300 State gained popularity by word-of-mouth in the early going, Webster said, but it wasn’t until the pizza place was recognized by Riverbender this past summer as having the best pizza in Alton that word started to get around. The pizza was named as second-best in the area, beating out a number of other established restaurants.

Webster put out a question on the restaurant’s Facebook page in late October to gauge interest in delivery, and the response led him to move forward with it. Under the new system, delivery will be a $3 charge. Drivers will deliver from 5 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, and from 5 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Delivery will be available in Alton, roughly, within the circle of Broadway, Homer Adams Parkway and State Street.

It won’t be just pizza that can be delivered. Webster said the restaurant will deliver almost anything, including its stromboli, burgers and chicken wings.

300 State is open from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For delivery or more information, call the restaurant at 618-463-5555.